That High School Fic You Read That One Time
by Koinuryu
Summary: AU, High School.  A little OOC at times, but serious nonetheless.  About Naruto growing up and realizing the gifts he has to offer the world.  Possible shonen ai, in later chapters.  First story, so please read and review, thanks.
1. First Day

**Author's Note: This is an even better edited version, as I have just finished reviewing it and making some grammatical corrections. Chapter two of the story is posted, hope you enjoy!  
**

That Fanfic You Read That One Time….

Naruto glanced up at the sky, wondering what amazing worlds lay beyond the dreadful place that confined him. He thought absent-mindedly that he could get lost in the clouds, and drift forever in peace. The school bell rang - a reality check. He knew that skipping one class today to daydream was already one class too many; he needed to focus. Running to the door at the top of the roof, he headed down the stairs, looking at his schedule to see where he needed to be next. This was his first day in high school, though he found that it wasn't terribly unlike middle school. He smiled when he saw the class he was taking: an elective. It was lucky for them, being freshmen and able to choose at least some of their classes. "Creative Writing Class" the schedule read, and he felt a wave of happiness pass over him. Writing was one of the few ways he could express himself, since he had few friends to talk to.

Upon entering the class, he chose a seat at the back of the room. That way he wouldn't be disturbed by the rest of the students, who probably already hated him anyway. He watched the class fill up, and frowned as he realized that writing seemed to be every outcast's expressive outlet. He paid little attention to the girls, who most likely weren't actual writers, but fan girls with romantic notions of becoming novelists-or at least dating one. Instead, he moved on to the boys. _Prospective friends, _he thought, which was another reason he avoided the girls. Naruto was no good with the female gender. He slurred his speech and could never think of the right thing to say, sometimes even getting himself slapped. He sighed, returning to his previous thought that writing seemed to be every outcast's expressive outlet. He saw Gaara and a few other people, who were deemed as Naruto was: "unfit to talk to", enter the classroom. He frowned as it dawned on him that he wasn't as special as he thought he was.

A twang of curiosity hit him when Uchiha Sasuke walked into the room. The boy didn't have any problems that Naruto could think of. He was well regarded and even had a sort of fan club that followed him around; Naruto couldn't imagine a reason for him to desire to write. When the room was filled, the teacher entered the room and began her introductions. Naruto began to tune the woman out, figuring he'd snap back to attention when she was actually talking about the subject he adored so much. The window seemed a friendly and altogether too tempting place to put his attention, so he gave in and spent a good while watching the clouds. He liked this room - it almost felt like he was back on the roof; like he could let the people melt away and focus on what he really enjoyed.

Pen hit paper before he realized what was going on. He had already started scrawling things down about the clouds and the impact they had on him. He never thought he could capture their freedom in words, but still the words came, and faster, he thought, than he could stand to write them all. He wondered if writing class was supposed to inspire you to do things like this. After a moment's daze and a page length of poetry, Naruto's attention was directed back to the teacher as his name was called.

"Uzumaki Naruto." The teacher said in an official tone.

"Huh… What? I'm sorry I don't know the answer." He replied in a hazy voice.

"This is attendance, so you can relax. But I'd appreciate if you'd pay a little more attention to what I'm saying. I promise I will give you due time to daydream, so long as you write what your thinking down." She informed him, and the class laughed. Naruto just nodded and sat up straight, trying to make the impression that he wanted to hear what she was going to say. She smiled, and continued down the attendance list. Naruto was glad that the laughter seemed distant. He figured there were probably a few empty seats between him and anyone who would want to laugh at him, and it was a comfort. He scanned the room quickly and realized to his surprise that two of the seats nearest him weren't empty at all. In fact, there were two quite real, though not terribly large people seated there - one behind him, and one in front. He looked behind and identified the pale, red-headed figure as Gaara, and made a mental note never to look back during class ever again. He figured out from the spiky black locks of hair sticking into his face that the person in front of him was Sasuke. _Great, _he thought, _of all the people I was seated next to, it had to be these two. At least they didn't laugh at me, _he concluded. He began to wonder why exactly they hadn't laughed. "Alright everyone, to start off the class I would like you write a few paragraphs about whatever is floating around in those spacey heads of yours. You may share them at the end of the half hour period you are given to write them, if you'd like." Everyone nodded silently, and began to work.

'Why didn't Sasuke and Gaara laugh' was the only thing that came to mind. _Maybe I can bullshit it, I don't have to share it, think about something cool to write, damn you!, _Naruto thought, but in vain. He decided he would take lemons and make lemonade, and began scribbling down what he was thinking. His simple sentence, 'Why didn't Sasuke and Gaara laugh' unraveled into a compelling story of sorrow and deceit before his very eyes. It was a trap, a ploy, and in the story they befriended Naruto only to betray him in the very end. It was all a sick joke, and worse yet, it all seemed so plausible - so real. Everything the characters in his story did were things he could see his schoolmates doing, and at the end of the half hour, the grief-stricken blond in the story had resolved to kill himself, to rid the world of his awful presence. Still, there was a small ray of hope. The main character stood before the cliff he was about to leap from, a small ray of sunlight broke through the clouds and shone upon him. Lies, betrayal, and deceit, but still, there was hope. There was sunlight - there was warmth. It ended nicely, the main character walking off into the sunrise, following the dreams of his childhood.

He stopped just as they ran out of time, clutching his hand. _Writing cramps, _he thought, frowning to himself. He heard a small "heh" noise from behind him, which he under stood as coming from Gaara. It seemed to be directed at his hurting hand. Assuming that Gaara wasn't merely enjoying the blond boy's misery, Naruto came to the conclusion that he was relating to the hand cramps. To confirm this, he gained the courage to look back at the strange boy and mutter "stupid cramps" to gauge a reaction. Gaara seemed slightly surprised that anyone had actually dared to look at him and say something, but still amused. He gave a rare hint of a smile and nodded before putting on an angry face and looking down at his paper as if he was going to murder it hideously.

"Alright class, anyone feel up to sharing what they wrote?" The teacher asked in an overly friendly tone. Naruto looked down at his paper and was suddenly very grateful that sharing was optional. He wasn't sure how the class would have reacted to his thought process, and was even more scared as to what Sasuke and Gaara's reaction toward being included in his story would be. He looked around to see no one raising their hands to share. He had expected as much from certain people, mainly Gaara behind him, but no one seemed to have the confidence in their writing to say anything. "If no one is willing to share, I'm going to have to pick someone at random, you know the rules." Naruto's heart pounded as he thought about the possibility of him being chosen. He told himself it wasn't going to happen, that if she called his name he would merely wish himself away and would go. Impossible, but still, it calmed him down some.

"Uzumaki Naruto, my little daydreamer, care to share?" The teacher asked, in a voice all too commanding to be a question. Naruto squeezed his eyes shut, and wished himself away with everything he had. The last thing he heard was loud screams, and then there was sunlight staining his closed lids. He snapped his eyes open. He was on top of the roof, in his favorite spot. He couldn't believe it, had he been daydreaming about the entire class. He checked his watch, and gasped. It was the correct time to be in writing class, and he could have sworn he had left the roof. Frowning, he came to the conclusion that he had been dreaming about the entire class, and fallen asleep watching the clouds on the roof. He headed down to the bottom of the stairs, and wandered towards the writing classroom. Maybe the teacher would excuse him for being late. When he got to the door and saw everyone in the class with bewildered stares plastered upon their faces. He wondered what had happened, opened the door slowly, and began to speak.

"I'm sorry that I'm—" He started, but was interrupted by the teacher.

"I would appreciate it if you returned to your seat Mr. Uzumaki. I understand you were nervous to share your story but I don't want you sneaking out of the classroom like that again, are we clear?" She asked, in a somewhat commanding but also sympathetic tone. Naruto merely nodded dumbly, realizing with some horror that he didn't dream anything. As he made his way to his seat people continued to stared at him, most of them looking amused and a few with a better grasp of things looking confused. He sat down, and realized that three of his classmates did not appear to be amused or confused, but merely stared at him calmly. Sabaku no Gaara, Uchiha Sasuke, and Haruno Sakura watched him in an almost curious manner. He watched as Sakura turned to her friend Ino and whispered something before jerking her head in Naruto's direction. Ino glanced back with the same stare they had all been giving him. He sank into his seat as much as possible, feeling that he might die at any moment from embarrassment, or worse, end up on the roof again.

It seemed someone had shared while he was gone, so he didn't have to worry about his story being read, which was relieving for him. The rest of the class continued normally and gradually people stopped staring at him, though occasionally he could hear them murmuring about him from afar. The four who were giving him the strangest looks of all had returned to their work, and the rest of the class was pleasant. At the end of the hour and a half long period, he reached for his agenda and scribbled down the homework in its designated spot, hoping to be at least somewhat organized this year. As people were filing out of the class, it dawned on him that the story he had written was missing from his desk. He cursed inwardly and looked around, until he spotted the paper in none other than Uchiha Sasuke's hands. He sighed - now fairly sure that God had a personal grudge against him. He noticed Sakura, Ino, Gaara, and Sasuke forming a small group, exchanging a few words as they exited. He didn't bother to think about what they could be saying; the only possible explanation in his mind was that while he had, well, he wasn't even sure what had happened, Sasuke had taken the paper off his desk and read it, and was now sharing the juicy details with his friends.

As Naruto made his way through the rest of his classes, he began to notice more and more people giving him that stare that Uchiha Sasuke had given him. He wondered if Sasuke had really shown all of these people his story, or what. He had Algebra II with Gaara, whom didn't take his eyes off Naruto for the entire class, then Chemistry I where a strange boy with dark hair and sunglasses on all the time sat reclusively in the corner and stared at him. He felt relieved when it came time for his double free period at the end of the day because could go up on the roof and relax. He walked to the base of the staircase leading him to freedom and, after checking to make sure no teachers were watching, slipped onto the roof. This being his first day, he was expecting to feel trapped, but this was ridiculous. Running over to the spot where the clouds were perfect, he had to come to a skidding stop to avoid tripping over a boy sitting exactly where he had wanted to sit. He couldn't believe his luck, someone else sitting in his favorite secluded spot. _Ah well, maybe I'll make a friend, _he thought to himself in an optimistic way.

He chose a spot near the boy that wasn't too close for comfort, then plopped down to watch the clouds. The dark-brown haired boy turned to look at him with some surprise, but then turned away and said nothing, continuing to daydream. Naruto smiled when he realized nothing needed to be said. They continued to watch the clouds together until the bell rang signaling time for them to go home. The boy stood up first, sighing before putting on a smile and introducing himself.

" Nara Shikamaru." He said simply, offering the blond boy a hand to get up. Naruto took his hand and pulled himself up, smiling broadly.

"I'm—" he began, but was cut off.

"Uzumaki Naruto, I know. I heard about you from Sasuke." The boy finished for him. Naruto's smile vanished, _this boy too? _He thought, sighing. He knew it was too good to be true; why would the God that hated him so much let a friend fall into his lap? Shikamaru seemed to note his upset reaction to this, but didn't say anything about it, instead changing the subject. "Do you have anything to do this afternoon?" He asked, though he didn't really care what the answer was. Naruto was coming with him whether he liked it or not.

"Uhh…well…" truthfully Naruto never had anything to do after school, but he didn't want to make it seem that way.

"Follow me." The boy interrupted in a commanding tone. Naruto did as he was told, wondering if he had just made a friend, or if someone was going to beat him up in an alleyway. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Shikamaru looked back to make sure Naruto was following him as he had instructed, and smiled when he saw there wasn't going to be a problem. He remembered when this happened to him and how he had snuck away from Ino, in favor of cloud-watching. They continued down the hallways in silence, until taking a side exit out of the building. Naruto had meant to say "where are we going" ages ago, but hadn't found the courage to do so. When they stepped outside, Naruto noticed to his dismay there was a small gang of students not too far ahead. He quickly identified Uchiha Sasuke, Gaara, Sakura, and Yamanaka Ino standing there. He looked around for options - somewhere to turn and run, but his legs refused to move towards the school. Shikamaru reached the group first and shouted a merry "found him!" at the others.

"Where was he?" Sasuke asked in amused tone.

"Troublesome boy was cloud-watching." Shikamaru replied. _Troublesome? _ Naruto thought, _that was hardly fair. _

"Shikamaru calls everyone troublesome." Gaara informed Naruto in a quiet voice. Everyone turned to Gaara, surprised that he was speaking. "Clarifying for the newbie…he looked confused." Gaara explained.

Naruto nodded in thanks, but then remembered he wasn't sure if they were friends or foes. He had to say something; if he was going to be bullied, he at least had the right to know. "Are you…going to beat me up?" The blond boy asked meekly. Uzumaki's baby blue eyes met Sasuke's almost black ones, and fear emanated from Naruto.

"Dobe, we're not going to beat you up." The Uchiha replied before laughing a little.

"Don't call me that, and...and don't laugh!" Naruto exclaimed, losing his confidence and clutching his pounding chest. He hated situations like this, he couldn't handle them. "The hell am I supposed to think, you people leading me around to your little gang…" his voice trailed off.

"Sasuke, don't be so harsh!" Sakura called out, walking over to Naruto and putting her hand on his shoulder. "We're not going to hurt you, we just want to talk to you about what happened in creative writing class today." Sakura told him in a comforting voice. Naruto couldn't help but blush at the hand on his shoulder; he had always thought Sakura was cute. She had long silky pink hair and bright green eyes, she was thin and very intelligent. Sasuke rolled his eyes at the scene before him.

"You gunna wipe the drool off your face, dobe?" Sasuke commented sarcastically, flicking his black hair from his eyes.

"Sasuke!" Sakura yelled again. To emphasize that she wouldn't let Sasuke pick on the blond boy, she stayed by Naruto's side. "Naruto," she continued kindly, "do you remember what happened in class today?"

"Yea, Sasuke stole my story." Naruto commented, giving the boy an angry glare. Sasuke's eyes widened, he had completely forgotten about that. Naruto saw Ino laugh in a friendly manner.

"I like where your priorities are." Gaara told him in that same quiet voice, a small smile crossing his pale lips. Sasuke couldn't help but nod, after all he had chosen writing as his elective.

"No dobe, she means when you disappeared." Sasuke clarified, making an effort to sound friendly despite repeatedly calling him a loser.

"Oh…I don't know what happened, I wasn't even sure it actually happened. I just wanted to disappear, and then I did, next thing I knew I was on the roof." Naruto explained, running his fingers through his spiky blond hair in a fidgety manner.

"Interesting." Sakura commented. All eyes turned to Shikamaru, who nodded.

"Congratulations, dobe, you may be more special than you think you are. We'll see you tomorrow then. Meet us here, and don't bring a friend." Sasuke instructed him, and Naruto nodded weakly. He couldn't help but feel like there was something these kids knew that he didn't. Feeling that the 'meeting' of sorts was over, Shikamaru headed away from the school, and Ino followed him. Sakura waved goodbye, and headed out herself, giving Sasuke one last glance that said "be nice". As Gaara and Sasuke turned to leave, Naruto remembered his paper.

"Hey, you still took my story, we're supposed to hold on to those so…I want it back." The blond said, causing Sasuke to stop. The slim framed Uchiha frowned slightly.

"I didn't get a chance to read it yet." The black-haired boy admitted, holding the paper to his chest defensively. "Gaara said you were scribbling like a madman, so I was curious." Naruto smiled slightly at this, bonding with the boy over writing.

"Give it back tomorrow?" Naruto suggested, wondering quietly what had happened today. He couldn't have imagined his first day of school going the way it did.

"Hai! See ya later, dobe." Sasuke said, almost affectionately. Naruto sighed and figured this was probably his new nickname courtesy of the boy. _Couldn't he have picked something cooler, like 'fox' or even just plain 'you'. Did it have to be an insult? _He thought, but really he was glad that he might actually have the chance at making friends. Maybe high school really was a little different from middle school, maybe he didn't have to be an outcast.


	2. The Secret

**Author's Note: Chapter two has been edited again.  
**

Chapter Two, The Secret

Naruto woke up the next morning feeling somewhat excited about what was to come. He looked around the pit that was his room and sighed, trying to find some clothes from the floor that didn't smell too bad. Living alone had its consequences; the blonde boy disliked doing the laundry and tended to avoid it unless it was desperately needed. Adding some extra deodorant to make sure no one noticed his clothes weren't clean, he pulled himself into the other room to see if there was anything worth eating in the fridge. Naruto eyed the milk the refrigerator had to offer with distrust, the last time he had drank something without checking the expiration date he had gotten himself into a lot of trouble. Remembering that he had bought it only a few days ago, he chugged some milk before running out the door. Not the breakfast of champions, but it would hold him off until lunch, which the school was required to give him. He didn't exactly have rations to spare in his home.

He ran towards the school, enjoying the wind on his face as he did so. He couldn't understand why people would ever want to drive unless they had to. Running brought so much pleasure through such simple action. He almost couldn't feel the weight of his backpack as he increased speed, and found himself trying not to get too caught up in what he was doing and get ran over. After fifteen minutes or so he arrived at the school, just in time to run to homeroom. Scrambling to his seat, he noticed Ino and Gaara shared homeroom with him. He frowned, feeling that he knew these people the least out of everyone that he had met. After attendance he read his first class on the list, English I. The classroom was almost full by the time he got there, but he noticed a seat next to Shikamaru open. He smiled at such a lucky thing.

"Uzumaki, we saved you a seat." The brunette called, pointing towards the seat Naruto was already heading for. Naruto's heart skipped a beat, _someone actually saved me a seat? _He thought. It wasn't chance, it was someone giving half a crap about him. He dove into the seat as if it was too good to be true, and would disappear if he kept it waiting for too long. "You look excited. Like English that much eh?" Nara asked, turning his head towards the windows. "I don't." the boy continued. "That building over there blocks my view of the sky." It dawned on the blond boy that they were both sitting in a window seat, to give them best access to avoid paying attention. "Oi, Choji, aren't you gunna introduce yourself?" Shikamaru called out, eyes on a slightly pudgy boy sitting in the seat adjacent to him. "Troublesome, why do I have to do all the talking."

"Akimichi Chouji, nice to meet you. I hear you're the new recruit." The boy sounded serious enough, and it was almost enough to stop Naruto from wondering why there was what looked like a pair of underwear on the boy's head.

"Nice to meet you too!" Naruto exclaimed brightly, remembering that his goal was to make friends. He decided not to ask about the underwear thing for now, and instead addressed the second part of what the boy had said. "New…recruit?" He asked the spiky brown-haired boy in a confused tone.

"Not now, later. He doesn't know, Choji." Shikamaru explained, though it didn't make anything clearer for Naruto. _Recruit? _ He thought to himself, wondering if they had some sort of small army. Did the high school need an army? He shook his head, no, nothing he had heard about high school had ever mentioned an army. _Maybe that's why they can't mention it here, _he concluded, as a story began to play through in his head. _A secret corps to defend the city from evil! Supplied with the best weapons the government could buy, these brave soldiers sacrifice their lives every day, knowing full well that when a recruit died no one would ever know what they truly accomplished, save the elite few who had the honor to work with them. _Naruto smiled, hoping it went something like that. The rest of English class went fairly well, as far as Naruto concerned. Grammar and spelling was never his favorite thing to focus on, so he tuned most of the lesson out. He actually managed to exchange a few more sentences with his newfound friends before the bell rang for them to change classes, and so waved goodbye before heading out to the gym room. He frowned when he realized neither of them was heading in his direction. Deciding that he could face a class by himself, after all he had spent most of his life by himself, he avoided sneaking up onto the roof and skipping.

The gym was massive, much bigger than the one from his middle school, and he suspected there were many fields outdoors. Checking out the window, he found they would most likely be playing inside, as it was raining. He was sort of relieved at this, as much as he loved the outdoors, it had been pretty hot in the morning and he didn't want the embarrassment of sweating in the sun. Looking around, he realized most of the class were older than him, and none of them looked terribly friendly. Still, there was enough freshmen that as long as he didn't mess up too terribly he wouldn't be made fun of.

"Alright everyone, divide into teams. Seniors pick leaders." The gym teacher called out in a bored voice. Naruto got the impression that the gym teacher hated gym class, and wondered quietly why the white-haired man had chosen an occupation he hated. The guy looked to be still in his mid-twenties, contrary to his white hair, which meant there was plenty of time for him to go back to college and change his mind if he wished. Naruto shook himself from these thoughts as he realized that people were forming a line to be chosen for teams, which was possibly the most embarrassing way to pick teams. He noticed a tall blonde girl standing as one captain, and a senior boy with his hair hidden behind a beanie as the other. Naruto sighed, he was always picked last, and the blond boy felt he didn't need any more embarrassment.

"Inuzuka Kiba!" The blond girl called, and a brown-haired freshman boy with what Naruto thought could be face paint walked over to her, pulling off his hoodie. _Here we go again, _Naruto thought, as the senior boy immediately called one of the cuter girls over to his team. The blond boy hung his head, disgusted. _I could play better than her, _he thought bitterly, though he knew she wasn't called for her gym class abilities. Naruto watched as Kiba whispered something in the blonde-haired girl's ear, and she nodded before calling out another name. "Uzumaki Naruto!" She hollered, and Naruto froze. It took him a moment to sort out they were probably connected to Sasuke somehow, and he walked slowly over with a confused look on his face.

"Uhhhh…" was all he managed to say in the girl's presence. She just smiled.

"I'm Temari, welcome to the team." She said in a rough but cheerful tone. He frowned; she looked like she could definitely beat him up.

"You're a senior." He stated, not quite implying what he meant.

"Yes, yes I am?" She replied in a questioning tone.

"The seniors are in on it too?" He said in a small voice, backing away some. "Don't get me wrong…I'm glad you called me but…would anyone care to explain what's going on?" He added.

"They'll explain it later." Temari replied in a way that left no room for further questions. Naruto didn't pay attention as the rest of the teams were called, he was too glad to have been picked. He didn't know what this organization did, or even if it was anything at all, but it sure did have its upsides. They played capture the flag, which Naruto was especially good at because it involved running, which he adored. He noticed Kiba was very fast as well, and good at hunting down the people that crossed their line to steal the flag. He figured this was probably why Temari had picked Kiba first.

Gym class was only forty-five minutes long and after it was over he went up to his favorite spot on the roof to watch the clouds. He had been sneaking up here since he was in elementary school, and he had used it as an escape from his loneliness. For reasons he couldn't explain, none of the kids ever wanted to be his friend. In elementary school he would always walk around the recess grounds alone, imagining himself off to other worlds so that he didn't have to deal with the people in this world. He had nowhere to go after school, he had no parents to come home to, and nothing particularly special to do there. One day out of boredom he had wandered around the grounds, as the high school, middle school, and elementary school were all connected, until he had found himself at the school he attends now. Being in the first grade, the place had looked so big and magical, so he climbed to the highest point he could find to look around. When he had stood on this spot he had felt on top of the world, like nothing could bring him down. Nostalgia made him feel that way now.

Realizing that he had daydreamed away the forty five minutes of freedom he had, Naruto ran downstairs for a subject that rivaled creative writing for his favorite class, lunch. He weaved through the crowds of people in the hallway with incredible speed, wanting to be one of the first people into the cafeteria so that he could scarf down his lunch before running back up to the roof again. He was paying so much attention to avoiding hitting people, that he had no idea about the heads that turned in awe of his ducking and weaving. He got to the front of the lunch line, and gave the lunch ladies a big dorky smile.

"Afternoon!" He greeted them cheerfully, and the old women with the food smiled at his innocent charm. If there was one thing he knew, it was that to get the good lunch, you needed to be on good terms with the lunch ladies. He watched as they piled food onto his plate, murmuring things like "what an adorable young boy" as he passed. Then came his least favorite part of lunch, the part he had dreaded since his elementary school days, the end of the line. He pulled out the crumpled lunch card they had assigned him for the year, and flashed it for the lady, who nodded and cleared the amount he owed from the cash register. He hated doing this because he felt like they were giving him pity, something he had learned to dislike over his years of living alone. He just wanted to be treated normally, but unfortunately when it came to this, there was no other option; he couldn't afford to pay for the food himself. He rushed out of the room with his tray, and looked for the nearest empty table to sit down and shovel food into his mouth.

"Hey, Uzumaki, this way!" he heard Temari's voice call out from across the room. His eyes widened, _they had the same lunch? _He thought in disbelief. As he approached the table he had been summoned to, he saw everyone else in Sasuke's group sitting there. _How do we __**all **__have the same lunch? _He wondered, beginning to think they had some sort of influence over the principal. It sounded ridiculous, but sure enough, there was Temari, Sakura, Sasuke, Gaara, Choji, Shikamaru, Ino, and Kiba, along with a bunch of other people whose names he did not know.

"You gunna sit down dobe, or are you just gunna stand there wide-eyed?" Sasuke asked, directing his hand to the empty space. Naruto sat down silently, still in shock at what he saw.

"You all have the same lunch." He stated, still not aware enough to make it a question.

"Yep." Ino replied, leaving it at that.

"How?" He questioned, looking around at all of them. They even had a few tables pulled together so they could sit in the same place. How had they accomplished this? No one, however, decided to answer his questions. Instead, Sakura spoke up, changing the subject.

"There are a few people here you haven't met. This is Hyuuga Hinata." Sakura introduced, using the girl's surname. Hinata had medium length black hair and strange almost white eyes. At first glance Naruto would have said she was blind, but he didn't think it was that simple. "Next we have Aburame Shino, who I believe you met in chem class." Sakura identified the boy with the sunglasses. Naruto nodded dumbly.

"Those people were all freshman." Temari continued, "But not all of us are. There are a few sophomores, a junior and a senior." Naruto wondered why there were so few older members of this club, but the girl didn't go into it. "The sophomores are Tenten--" she pointed to a girl with brown hair pulled into twin buns, one on each side of her head, "--Hyuuga Neji, Hinata's cousin," her fingers lead his eyes to a boy with long brown hair and the same strange eyes that Hinata had, "and Rock Lee." Naruto's gaze fell upon the boy designated 'Rock Lee'. He couldn't have pictured a dorkier boy in his entire life. The boy had an overly large smile on his face and was giving the blonde thumbs up. Naruto looked at the boy's strange black hair, Rock Lee had possibly the worst haircut he had ever seen in his entire life. However, the boy's eyebrows made his hair seem normal in comparison. Rock Lee's eyebrows were so incredibly thick that they threatened to attack his poor, unsuspecting eyes with every movement they made. He shook the image out of his head. "The junior is my brother, Kankuro, and I am the senior, of course." She directed a hand to Kankuro and herself, as they were sitting next to each other. Kankuro had spiky brown hair similar to Kiba's, and purple markings on his skin.

"Wow, you guys are siblings?" Naruto asked, smiling. He had never had siblings, but the idea always sounded fun. If you had a brother or sister by your side, you would never be alone.

"Yep. Didn't Gaara tell you about his older brother and sister?" Temari asked in a kidding voice, truthfully she hadn't expected Gaara to say anything, he never did.

"No, wait, you're Gaara's siblings?" Naruto exclaimed. He would have loved to have an older brother and sister to look after him, so he didn't understand why Gaara didn't look very excited at the prospect.

"Feeling slow today are we?" Sasuke questioned, not feeling in the mood for stupid things. Naruto frowned, and shut up. He turned his attention to his food and started eating, silently.

"Aww, Sasuke, come on! Now he's not talkin!" Temari complained. Naruto kept his head down, but after a while looked around to see what everyone was doing. Sakura, Ino, Hinata, and Tenten had formed a small group and were talking away while they ate, Choji was heading up for seconds, Kiba and Kankuro were talking, Temari had turned her attention to Rock Lee, and Gaara, Shino, Sasuke, and Shikamaru were eating in silence. Naruto finished his food and stood up as if to leave. Gaara, Shino, and Shikamaru looked up at him, but everyone else seemed to preoccupied to notice him do so. Shino and Shikamaru turned their attention back to their food, figuring it was none of their business, but Gaara spoke.

"Leaving?" Gaara asked, making sure his voice was loud enough to call everyone's attention. A series of "awww"s and "don't go"s emanated from the group.

"Sasuke, apologize!" Sakura and Temari yelled in unison, and then laughed at having done so. Sasuke made a 'tch' noise.

"Sheesh. I didn't mean to offend you or anything, can't take a joke, can we?" Sasuke stated his so-called apology. Naruto's eyes narrowed. He wanted to go sit with them again, but he also wanted to prove a point to Sasuke, and leaving would be the best way to do so. Deciding for the second time that day that being alone wasn't so bad, he spun on his heels and walked away. _Hopefully that will teach him his lesson, _he thought, _I hope Temari hits him. _

Naruto spent the remainder of his lunch period roaming the hallways of his school. He had wanted to go back up onto the roof, but he had a feeling his friends were looking for him, and he knew that would be the first place they'd check. Finding an obscure hallway with nice big windows, he paused his wandering to think. _What am I getting myself into? _He thought, in reference to the strange occurrences the past few days. _I teleport from creative writing class to the roof, and now suddenly everyone wants to be my best friend? _ He wondered what exactly they had planned for him when he met up with them after school. Before he had been thinking 'government soldier' or 'superhero', but now he turned his thoughts to things like 'government experiment' and 'circus attraction'. There were too many ways something like this could end badly, Naruto wondered if it would be safer to just pretend what happened that day in class never happened, and move on with his life. He could make other friends, or just go it alone; it wasn't like being an outcast was new to him.

But that would deny Naruto the thing he craved most, an explanation. He wanted to know why what happened had happened, and what it meant for him. He made a mental decision. _Whoever is in my next class is getting interrogated. I'm going to demand answers or I won't join their little club, _he told himself. Dropping by his locker to switch out books, he headed for History I with newfound determination. When he swung open the door, he realized how early he was. _I've still got a few minutes, there's no one in here! _He thought to himself. Then it occurred to him that the room was not completely devoid of life, there was someone sitting – the word hiding came to mind, in the darker corner of the classroom. After a moment of squinting, Naruto recognized it was Gaara, he was scribbling away on a piece of paper. Walking over to him, the blond boy's plans for interrogation disappeared.

"Why are you all alone?" He asked the redhead in a concerned tone. The boy shrugged.

"They all went looking for you. I knew I had history with you, so I waited here." Gaara told him, before returning to writing. Naruto immediately felt bad for leaving the group.

"They really all went looking for me?" Naruto asked, the guilt showing in his voice. Gaara didn't look up, but nodded. Naruto frowned. "I'm sorry." The blond boy apologized. "I didn't mean to cause so much trouble for everyone…" Gaara laughed awkwardly, giving Naruto the impression he didn't laugh much.

"We all caused our share of trouble in the beginning." Gaara told him. Naruto's eyes widened, and he sat down in the chair next to Gaara.

"Really? What did you do?" Naruto asked, bracing himself for an exciting story. Gaara raised an invisible eyebrow at this, and then spoke. Naruto was slightly surprised that he hadn't noticed Gaara's lack of eyebrows before, but it looked so natural on the redhead.

"Class time." Gaara said, ignoring the question. Waving a hand in the direction of incoming classmates, he raised a pale finger to his equally pale lips as if to say 'quiet'. Naruto pouted, realizing he had been dismissed.

The blond boy gulped when Uchiha Sasuke entered the classroom. Naruto sank into his seat as the black-haired boy got closer and closer to Naruto's chair. Sasuke was visibly angry, his hands shaking and his black eyes locked on the blond. There was a red mark on the Uchiha's face, he guessed Temari had actually hit him for driving Naruto away. _Temari hit him, and now he's going to kill me, _Naruto thought, shaking in response to the Uchiha's anger. His instincts told him to run, but being in a classroom there was nowhere to go. _Maybe I'll disappear, _he thought hopefully. Sasuke walked up to Naruto, and then veered to the left and sat down in the chair next to him. The black-haired boy was silent, and didn't look at Naruto anymore. Naruto sighed, relieved. He was surprised at the Uchiha's actions until it dawned on him why Sasuke had done what he did. Sasuke knew he shouldn't have treated Naruto the way he did; he knew he deserved getting slapped. As angry as the boy was, he knew he was wrong. Naruto smiled at this, and made a mental note to be more tolerant of Sasuke's insults. After all, boys were supposed to insult each other for fun, right?

"Sorry for leaving…it was immature of me." Naruto offered, bracing himself for a harsh response.

"You got me hit, dobe." Sasuke muttered, but it seemed as though his anger was fading.

"Sorry." The blond apologized again, pouting slightly for effect. Sasuke took the bait, and his anger disappeared completely.

"Yea, yea, don't worry about it." He told Naruto, taking out a pen and starting the assignment the teacher had put on the board. Naruto smiled; he had calmed the boy down, a personal victory. _Maybe I'm not as bad at making friends as I thought _he realized, and his smile broadened.

The rest of the day went fairly well, and Naruto discovered to his surprise that almost all of the freshmen in their 'club' were in his last class of the day, Japanese. He left the school among friends, deciding to skip the demand for answers. As long as he cooperated, he figured he'd get them anyways. He watched as Sasuke and the others led him up near the gym, to a small shack that he assumed was devoted to gym equipment. Sasuke opened the door and led him to a small desk in the back.

"Good luck." Sakura whispered, and Naruto watched in horror as everyone he knew left the building, making him completely alone. After a few minutes of sitting by himself the door behind him creaked open. He looked back and saw the figure of a man. As the man got closer, he let out a small gasp.

"Gym teacher?" Was all Naruto managed to say.


	3. Explanations

**Authors Note: Shorter than the other chapters, yes, but it explains a lot more, and gets through some important things in my mind. Not sure when chapter 4 will be posted, as I have much work to do.**

Chapter 3, Explanations

"I hear you teleported from your class to the roof." The white-haired man called out, and Naruto shifted uncomfortably in his seat. The room was dark, save for the light that hung above him, which shone brightly onto his face. He could see rows of shelves covered in equipment, unidentifiable in the darkness. The man walked around his chair until he was standing in front of Naruto, and cocked a brow as if to say 'answer, please'. Naruto shrunk in his presence, _why couldn't one of them have stayed? _He thought frantically.

"yea…I might've…I mean, I didn't mean to…I was just so embarrassed I thought 'I wanna disappear' – and then I did…are you going to hurt me?" Naruto cursed inwardly that he had let those last words slip out. The man stared at him for a second, and then chuckled.

"A little paranoid, aren't we?" The man joked. "I am your gym teacher after all; you're supposed to trust me." Naruto could hear an undertone of disgust when the man spoke the phrase 'gym teacher'. Choosing to ignore this for the moment, the blond boy proceeded to argue the first statement the man had made.

"Paranoid? Rightfully so, don't you think? Here I am locked in a gym storage room with a strange man drilling me on an event that didn't make any sense at all just so I could have a few answers and some friends!" Naruto exclaimed, more able to articulate when he was angry.

"I never said the door was locked." The man replied, waving a hand in its direction. "You're free to leave anytime you'd like." Naruto sprang to his feet and bolted for the door as if expecting to be chased. The man didn't make the slightest effort to stop him. Naruto's hands rummaged frantically in the darkness until they found their way to the doorknob. Gasping, he turned the knob and flung open the door, letting the sunlight hit his face. The man behind him merely chuckled again.

"Being a little dramatic, aren't we?" He asked. Naruto realized how ridiculous he probably looked and blushed slightly.

"Sorry…guess I am a little paranoid." Naruto admitted. The blonde's eyes shifted from the dark room to the sunlight and back, and he felt reluctant to close the door. "Would you mind…" he began, but trailed off.

"Mm?"

"Could we…could we do this outside?" The boy asked. The man seemed surprised, but nodded in consent. The two moved outdoors and Naruto found the nearest patch of grass to sit on. "What's your name?" Naruto asked. As Naruto was about to plop himself down he felt the man grab his arm and yank him back up.

"My name is Kakashi," He told him, "and you don't want to sit there." He directed his hand towards the grass, which was wet. "It's been raining, remember?" Naruto frowned, wondering how he could have forgotten that. They took a seat on the doorstep of the storage room. Sitting with their feet on the grass and the sunlight in their faces, they began again.

"I'm Uzumaki—" the boy started.

"Naruto-kun, yes, I know." Kakashi interrupted.

"Can you explain to me what happened?" Naruto asked, feeling this was the moment he had been waiting for.

"I'll try." Kakashi answered, smiling. "You were born with a specific genetic trait, a trait that allows you to gather and store energy that other people simply can't."

"Woah, really?" Naruto exclaimed. Kakashi continued his speech as if he hadn't heard the blonde.

"We call this energy 'chakra'. Normally, it takes skill and concentration to collect this energy, but even without this training, chakra will build up slowly in your system. It is an extremely slow rate, and takes years to accumulate enough to do anything, but it does build."

"So, I teleported because of too much energy?" Naruto asked.

"Normally, you need to train and memorize jutsu to be able to use the energy you accumulate." Kakashi told him.

"Then how—" Naruto started, but was interrupted.

"If a stressful or life threatening situation arises, your body will sometimes use the chakra on its own to remedy the situation. You wanted to disappear, so your body used its stored energy to make it happen." Kakashi finished, turning to Naruto to gauge his reaction. Naruto had a serious look on his face, and there was a moment of silence.

"So...what do I do now?" Naruto asked.

"If you choose, I can show you how to use this power, to do things you could have never imagined, and to protect yourself…" the white-haired man's voice trailed off, and Naruto got the impression there was something Kakashi wasn't telling him.

"And if I don't want to learn?" Naruto pressed. Kakashi frowned.

"That's not really an option…you see, if we know about you, there's no doubt the enemy does as well. If we don't show you how to protect yourself, you will most likely be killed." Naruto's eyes widened, _killed? _ He thought.

"Why…I didn't do anything!" He exclaimed.

"They'll see you as a liability, anyone who could possibly add strength to our side is a threat to them." Kakashi's tone was sad, almost bitter.

"I guess I don't have much of a choice then, do I?" Naruto asked. Kakashi shook his head no. To Kakashi's surprise, Naruto smiled broadly. "Oh well, that's life, isn't it?" The blonde exclaimed, jumping to his feet. Kakashi wondered what kind of life the poor kid must have had to make a thing a like this unable to phase him.

"Life's usually a little more fair than that." Kakashi suggested, and Naruto merely shrugged.

"When do I start?" He asked.

"Tomorrow after school. From now on you will train every day after school, and on the weekends as well." Kakashi replied. "You may go now; get some rest." He added. Naruto nodded and turned to leave. Walking back down the path he had come from, the blonde stopped suddenly, getting the feeling that he was being watched. Naruto gulped, looking around frantically. Were the people Kakashi mentioned coming to kill him? _Kakashi was too late, _Naruto's mind screamed, _I'm going to die! _He began shaking uncontrollably, and sank to his knees. _Get up! _He told himself, but it was no use. He heard his attacker jump out from behind a nearby tree, and his heart sank. _This is it, _he thought, _this is the end. _

"Dobe?" came his 'attacker's' voice from behind him. Naruto recognized Sasuke's voice and breathed a sigh of relief. _I am paranoid, _he thought, frowning. After the shaking stopped, Naruto stood up, and made an effort to smile as he faced the Uchiha.

"Sasuke!" Naruto greeted him cheerfully, as if he hadn't been on the ground a moment ago. "What are you doing here?" The blond boy asked, confused.

"Your story." Sasuke replied, holding Naruto's papers in his hand. "What were you doing there?" He retorted, in reference to Naruto having been on the ground a moment ago.

"Stomach ache." Naruto lied quickly, and then changed the subject. "Did you like it?" Sasuke nodded slightly.

"Yea…you write well…but there's a few things…" Sasuke started. Naruto sighed inwardly, he hated constructive criticism.

"Things?" He asked, figuring he might as well get it over with.

"First off, I think you're paranoid, dobe. You really think everyone's out to get you?" Naruto frowned, _yes, yes I do, and with good reason, _he thought.

"No, it's just a story." Naruto replied, somewhat more angrily than he had intended. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

" Don't give me that speech, people write how they feel, the way the world seems from their experience." The black-haired boy stated, and it was Naruto's turn to roll his eyes.

"Anything else you'd like to say?" Naruto spat, hoping his harsh tone would deter Sasuke from further comments.

"Yea, yea there is." Sasuke retorted, angry himself now. "I don't understand the ending. After everything that happens to the kid, all the bad things, he just picks himself up and moves on with his life?"

"Yea, that's what happens." Naruto replied, holding out a hand in hopes of getting his story back.

"No, that's not what happens!" Sasuke exclaimed, and Naruto got the feeling they were no longer talking about what he had written. Naruto shrugged.

"That's what has to happen." Naruto argued. "There's no point in dwelling on the bad parts of your life. Life is; life sucks; life goes on. That's the way it is."

"No." Sasuke spat. "It isn't." The angered Uchiha threw the blonde's story on the ground and stepped on it, before spinning on his heels and stalking off. Naruto stood there for a moment, dumbfounded by what had just occurred. Picking his dirty crumpled papers off the ground, the blonde headed home.


	4. The Argument

**Author's Note: Sorry for the lack of update! I was shipped to Rhode Island, to come home to a visitor from California who wanted to crash at my place. Then someone moved into my house, and only just now, after my Cali roomie moved on, can I finally get around to these things >;. EDITED!!!! Cheers (because of Kaguranne's amazing reviews-merci beaucoup. (She is the one who moved in.))**

** Also many thanks to Killa Kay for the inspiration and support.  
**

Chapter Four, The Argument

Naruto was angry the next day, angrier probably than he should have been. He couldn't help it, he had been thinking about his argument with the black-haired boy all night. _That guy's impossible, _Naruto thought, _I try to be his friend but everything I do and say only seems to piss him off more! _ The blond didn't think Sasuke had any right to say what he had said, either. _What the hell's he gone through, who does he think he is, talking like he knows what it's like to have suffered? _ Naruto pounded his fist onto his desk, making everyone in his homeroom look back. He ignored them. _I've been through it all, _his mind continued to rant, _and I know the only way to be happy again is to move on, to let it go. _The homeroom bell rang and Naruto frowned when he realized what his first class was. _Creative writing? _He said to himself, _sure, first class of the day just __**has**__ to have Sasuke in it. _Naruto grabbed his books and stormed off to his next class, Ino and Gaara trailing behind him.

"How'd everything go with Kakashi-sensei?" Ino asked, starting to catch up with him.

"Great, after we went outside. It was a little creepy in the shack." He replied in a cheerful tone, putting his anger from Sasuke aside momentarily. He noticed after a moment that Gaara and Ino had stopped walking, and turned around to see what was wrong. They both looked completely dumbfounded.

"You left the creepy shack?" Ino said the words as if she had never imagined it possible. "We could _leave _the creepy shack?" She spoke again, staring at him.

"Uhh…yea…I just asked, and we went outside to talk." He told her, looking from Gaara to Ino, and wondering what was wrong. Suddenly Gaara laughed, that same awkward laugh from before.

"You see…none of us ever…" Ino's voice trailed off.

"None of us ever thought to ask." Gaara finished for the girl, an amused look on his face.

"Wait, so you did everything in the creepy dark place?" Naruto asked, as if he couldn't imagine someone putting up with that. They both nodded dumbly. Naruto laughed a little. "That sucks." He empathized. Ino spotted Sakura and ran to her shouting 'Sakura, you'll never guess what Naruto did!'. Naruto and Gaara walked into class together, and took the same seats from the other day. "Neither of you asked to leave?" Naruto asked Gaara again, still trying to drive the message home.

"Nope."

"Did anyone initiated in ever ask to leave?"

"Nope." Gaara replied again, taking out a pencil and papers. Naruto wondered what the boy was writing all the time. He watched the redhead flip through the messy pile until he found what he was looking for, and began scanning the page. When he reached the end of the text he began scribbling on the paper, adding new lines. Naruto turned himself so he was sitting backwards in his chair and facing Gaara, and put his head on the pale boy's desk, watching him write. Gaara looked up momentarily, but then went back to writing. Naruto didn't mind being ignored, Gaara reminded Naruto of himself when he was writing, Naruto never paid much attention to what was going on around him while he wrote. The blond boy relaxed, letting the classroom fill up around him. He knew Sasuke was coming in, and he knew that focusing on Gaara would keep thoughts of Sasuke away from him. He didn't want to think about Sasuke right now, he didn't want to be angry right now.

Sasuke looked around the room as he came in, noting his friends were there. His eyes fell on the blond-haired boy, and he gritted his teeth. Naruto was still watching Gaara write, head on Gaara's desk. _Gaara never talks to anyone, why's he getting close to Naruto? _Sasuke thought, his anger growing. Sasuke had worked hard for the status he had in their group, and now the blonde was just coming in and immediately everybody loved him? It wasn't fair. Sasuke was heading for his usual seat, but instead sat somewhere farther away from Naruto. He couldn't believe he was having to change his normal patterns just because of a boy who didn't have the right to say anything he had said, anyways. _What the hell does he know, _Sasuke's mind ranted, _he hasn't been through what I've been through, he has no right to talk like he understands! _The black-haired boy growled, taking out a pen and doing his best to focus on the teacher.

Naruto took his eyes from Gaara only when he was required to. He turned around and took out a pencil, resolving to avoid Sasuke for the rest of the day. Only when he looked up at the board did it occur to him that Sasuke wasn't sitting in front of him like he usually did. His eyes scanned the room involuntarily until they fell on Sasuke. _He moved his seat? _Naruto thought, feeling the anger rise from his stomach again. _Can't even handle sitting next to me now, how mature. _Naruto's hands clenched into fists, and he sighed, needing some way to relieve his emotions. Just as he was contemplating crunching a piece of paper into a ball and throwing it at the Uchiha, and even better option arose. Sasuke looked over to see Naruto staring at him, and gave the blond boy an angry glare. Naruto only smiled, and did the first thing that came to mind, he stuck his tongue out at Sasuke. He saw Sasuke's hands ball into fists, and Naruto held back laughter. _Ah, much better, _he thought, enjoying having angered the boy. Both kids were so focused on each other that they completely failed to notice Gaara watching them, or the rare smile that graced his lips.

Naruto spent the rest of the day doing his best to make Sasuke explode out of sheer anger, and almost succeeded a few times. He was almost too wrapped up in this game to remember that he was supposed to train after school that day. Smiling as he thought about it, he realized how nice it felt to actually have a purpose, something to work for. This was something Naruto had lacked most in his life, the feeling that there was a point to him. Remembering that it was partially because of Sasuke that he had a purpose, Naruto resolved to drop his feud with the Uchiha momentarily. After all, **someone **had to take the moral high ground in their little argument, or it would never end. Honestly, thinking back, he felt a little silly for taunting Sasuke every time they passed each other in the hallway, as funny as it was. Since he hadn't shared Algebra II or Chemistry with Sasuke, he decided to seek him out on his double free period, and hope that they could resolve things while he walked Sasuke to the boy's next class. As soon as Chemistry got out, Naruto bolted around the school until he found Sasuke's classroom. Naruto waited outside of Sasuke's Advanced Chem. class for a second until he spotted the Uchiha. Sasuke's eyes met Naruto's and the black-haired boy glared. Naruto gave him a big dorky grin.

"Sasuke!" He exclaimed in a friendly manner, and Sasuke stopped short.

"What?" He snarled. Naruto frowned.

"So, uhm, how was class?" Naruto suggested, unsure of what to say.

"Fascinating." The boy replied sarcastically, and started to walk away. Naruto grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back.

"What the hell is your problem?" Naruto yelled.

"Let me see…you!" The boy replied, ripping his shoulder away from Naruto's hand.

"The hell did I do?" Narugo argued.

"You've been making an ass of yourself all day, idiot. How can you ask that?" The Uchiha spat. Naruto frowned.

"Only because you were being an ass first." He countered.

"Only because you were being an idiot." Sasuke replied without missing a beat.

"How the hell was I being an idiot, you're the one who flipped out on me."

"Because you were wrong."

"I don't think I was. Even so, I'm entitled to my own opinion, asshole." Naruto spat.

"No, you aren't. Not if there's no way you could understand what you're talking about! People who've been through horrible things don't just move on like it's nothing. That's not the way it works." Sasuke retorted. Naruto gritted his teeth, _this kid is clueless, _he thought, _if he had asked, or even just thought about it, he would know I have every right to say these things! I can accept the bad and let it go! _Naruto froze. 'Accept the bad and let it go' was what he always did, and yet here he was, yelling at Sasuke instead of just moving on. Naruto chuckled a little. "The hell you laughin' at?" Sasuke yelled. Naruto just smiled.

"I'm sorry. I had no right to say what I said." Naruto answered. "I don't know what class you have next, but you're going to be late for it. We should hurry." He added, eyeing the hallway clock. Sasuke cocked a brow.

"I'm on free now. And what's this 'we' stuff?" He asked.

"Oh…I have a free too…I was going to walk you to your next class." Naruto admitted. Sasuke's expression was complete confusion.

"We were in the middle of a huge fight…and you just drop the argument?" He started.

"Yep."

"And apologize?"

"Yep."

"And now you say you want to walk me to my next class?"

"Yep."

"You're a weird one dobe." Sasuke finished, smiling slightly.

"Yep." Naruto replied, glad he had quelled the boy's anger. From the looks of it, Sasuke was the weird one; the kid had serious issues, but Naruto knew it was none of his business. Naruto thought for a moment, and then decided to spring for the opportunity to make a friend. "So, you have a free…I have a free…wanna hang out?" he asked.

"Uhhh…sorry, dobe. I have to train. It's a double-free…and it's last period…I usually go to train early." Sasuke replied, almost frowning. Naruto grinned.

"I'll train with you then, Sasuke!" The blonde boy exclaimed, and Sasuke looked surprised.

"Why?" Sasuke stated pessimistically, looking Naruto up and down.

"Why **not**?" Naruto countered optimistically, folding his arms to his chest and smirking. Sasuke, cocking a brow, stared at him for a moment. Suddenly Naruto grinned the largest, stupidest grin he could muster. Sasuke made a face, and then burst out laughing. It wasn't the mocking sarcastically amused laughter he would have expected from the boy. It was genuine laughter, and Naruto got the impression that like Gaara, Sasuke was unfamiliar with this kind of happiness. The blonde boy began to realize exactly what Sasuke's pessimistic outlook on life was doing to the poor kid. Naruto made a mental note to try and make Sasuke laugh as much as he could from now on. _People can't move on after a tragedy my ass! If you won't move on, I'll move your ass on for you, Sasuke! _He thought triumphantly. Sasuke finished his awkward burst of laughter and glared at the floor, as if he was offended by the fact that he'd laughed. "So, can I come with you?" Naruto asked, still grinning. Sasuke didn't look up, but shook his head no. Naruto's smile vanished. "Why not? And what are you looking so offended for?" Naruto asked, slightly angry. _The hell did I do wrong? _ He asked himself.

"Because I said so, and I didn't want to laugh." Sasuke told him, unreasonably angry at the blonde boy.

"The hell do you mean, 'didn't want to laugh'. Who doesn't want to laugh? Besides, I was trying to make you laugh, so don't feel bad you did." Naruto replied, unable to believe that he was arguing with the boy all over again. _I thought I fixed this! _His mind screamed.

"Don't do it anymore. Laughter makes me lose focus on what's really important. The one thing I'll never forget, the one thing I won't let myself forget…" Sasuke's voice trailed off, and Naruto took a step forward.

"Laughter makes people happy. What could being happy possibly—" Naruto started.

"Maybe I don't want to be happy! Ever thought of that??" The black-haired boy exclaimed, spinning on his heels and storming away for the second time in the past two days. Naruto punched a nearby wall in frustration. _Again? _He thought, gritting his teeth, _we're not on speaking terms…again? _He sighed, trying to calm himself down. A voice behind Naruto startled him.

"Want me to bring you to the training room?" A small voice asked, and Naruto recognized it as Gaara. Naruto wondered why the boy was always so quiet. It occurred to the blonde that Gaara rarely spoke to anyone but him.

"You…you have a double-free as well?" Naruto asked, in disbelief. _How? _His mind demanded.

"Naruto…I have every class with you." Gaara replied slowly, taking a step back. Naruto's eyes widened?

"Really?" He asked, making a mental note to look for Gaara in his classes from now on. Gaara nodded.

"Though, I would most likely have this free anyways…everyone in our group, save for Choji, Kiba, and Ino have this free. It's for training purposes; it's better if we all train together." Gaara replied, the sentence came out awkwardly. Naruto realized this was because Gaara rarely said such long sentences.

"Then why do Choji, Kiba, and—" Naruto started.

"Schedule conflicts…there was just no way to work them in…" Gaara replied, his voice trailing off. Naruto still couldn't believe he had every class with the redhead. He frowned, realizing Gaara must have felt extremely ignored. Naruto made an effort to be friendly, grinning widely.

"Well, I'd love to go train with you, Gaara! Show me the way!" He told the other boy in an excited tone, adding Gaara's name for effect. He gauged the redhead's reaction. The boy's expression was comparable to someone who had been unexpectedly stabbed; he looked extremely shocked and then after a moment slightly pained.

"You…you would?" Gaara asked in disbelief, unconsciously holding his arms to his chest and scrunching up as if protecting himself.

"Y—Yea, course I would." Naruto replied, letting the concern in his voice show. "You ok there? I mean…did I say something wrong?" He asked, frowning. "I seem to be doing that a lot today."

"No…I just don't really have any…friends…" The boy responded quietly, staring at the floor.

"Nonsense! You have Sasuke and his group!" Naruto exclaimed, smiling. Gaara shook his head.

"They're teammates…only with me because of my abilities…don't really like me…if you knew…you wouldn't like me either." He replied, and Naruto felt a pang of loneliness. _That's the only reason they're with me, too. _ His mind concluded, and suddenly his confidence shrank. After taking a moment to regain his optimistic air, he turned his attention to helping the redhead do the same.

"Well, that's the reason they like me too, so that makes us two of a kind, ne?" He asked, taking a step towards Gaara. Gaara took a step back.

"No…you're not like me." The redhead whispered. Naruto frowned, but then came up with an idea.

"Well, maybe I'm not like you. But I do **like **you, and that's what counts, ne?" Naruto told him, and grinned. Gaara looked up for a moment, eyes wide, but then put his head back down, and opened his mouth as if he was going to say something.

"If you knew…you would hate me." Gaara responded, and Naruto sighed. _This is getting me nowhere…I'll have to leave it alone for now. _ He decided, wishing there was something else he could do.

"You were going to show me the training room, ne?" Naruto asked. Gaara nodded, and began to walk away, beckoning Naruto to follow. The trip to the training area was completely silent, and Naruto got the impression he had pushed the boy too far. _Jeez, everyone has issues, I wonder if these people are really going to be any good for me? _He thought, frowning. Naruto realized in amazement that the training building was directly below the gym, but then remembered the Kakashi the 'gym teacher' was the man behind everything. The blonde boy stepped back as Gaara swung open the doors, and Naruto stared in wonder at what he saw.


	5. Training

**Author's Note: JEWBUG!...a small insect that lives inside the yarmulkah of every Jewish person. It's what keep their hat on. (no offense meant to anyone…just something I doodled on the side of my notes when I handwrote the story…so I figured I had to work it in somehow…it's even got a lil halo…) On top of this…I got into a fight with my boyfriend whilst writing this…and drew an angry spanish zombie to represent our relationship. Soon to be edited, hope you enjoy!**

Chapter 5, Training

The basement area was much larger than Naruto was expecting, and it was full of almost everyone he had met at lunch. The place was a giant dojo, covered in practice mats and coated with weapon racks on the walls. Naruto took a step inside, and looked around for Kakashi. He did this because he wasn't exactly sure what he was supposed to do now that he was at the dojo, and Gaara had stopped talking to him after he had touched a nerve with the whole 'friends' conversation. When he saw the white-haired man instructing Sasuke, his heart sank. _I don't want to deal with that boy right now…_he thought angrily, turning around as if to leave the dojo. It wasn't worth it if he was going to go through everything again. A voice made him stop.

"Ah, Naruto! You're here; come on over!" Kakashi called out, and Naruto turned back around to face the man. He almost laughed when he saw the angered look on the black-haired boy's face, as Sasuke attempted to dissolve Naruto with his eyes. Naruto took a few brave steps forward, and Sasuke took a few steps away. Naruto stared in disbelief at the boy, _we're an entire room away, and he can't stand to be that close? _The blonde boy thought, his anger growing. Deciding that he couldn't care less that it would affect Sasuke, he skipped all the way over to Kakashi and gave him a large grin.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto called out cheerfully. Kakashi smiled slightly at the young boy's infectious optimism. _No wonder Sasuke was so angry, _Kakashi thought, his smile growing, _these two are polar opposites. _It took Kakashi a moment to decide what to do with the two boys standing in front of him. Suddenly, he spoke.

"Alright Sasuke, I do believe you and Sakura finally have a third member for your team!" Kakashi told the now miserable black-haired boy. Sasuke's expression was complete and utter rage.

"I'm not working with him." Sasuke stated coldly, turning away from Kakashi and Naruto. Kakashi wasn't phased in the least.

"You won't train with Naruto, then you won't train. You're dismissed for the day, Sasuke." Kakashi replied, and then waited a moment for the boy to think about what he had just said. Sasuke didn't move for a moment, though he was visibly shaking with anger. When the Uchiha felt ready to speak, he did, slowly and calmly.

"I'll train with Naruto." Sasuke said, in a flat, unemotional tone of voice. He walked calmly over to one of the weapon racks, and returned after restocking his supply of kunai. Naruto eyed the short blades with mounting fear; he had no knowledge of weapons. Sasuke caught the blonde boy's scared demeanor and a sadistic smile crossed his face. "I'll come at you then, all you have to do is dodge." Naruto took a few steps back, and threw his hands up in front of his face defensively, squeezing his eyes shut.

"I don't know how, this isn't fair! You can't just come at me with weapons on my first day and expect me to block them!" Naruto called out, forcing his eyes back open. Kakashi put his hand on Sasuke's shoulder.

"This is inappropriate, Sasuke…" Kakashi informed him, but not in a tone that said he was going to do anything to stop the Uchiha. Naruto looked frantically over at Kakashi with pleading eyes, and Kakashi looked away. "Go easy on him." Was all Kakashi said. Sasuke charged. _No, no, no! Please no…_was all that Naruto could think, _save me, someone has to save me…_his mind screamed. Sasuke got closer and closer, and Naruto ran as far as he could away from his attacker. Everyone in the room seemed to stop their training and focus in on the fight that had interrupted them. Backed into a corner, Naruto found himself up against the wall, squeezing his eyes shut once more. _Someone help me, please! _He pleaded mentally, but no one seemed to come. Just as Sasuke was right next to him, Naruto blacked out.

When Naruto opened his eyes he was extremely confused by what he saw. He should have been backed into the corner still, but instead he was in the middle of the dojo. He should have been wounded, but instead he felt better than he had in a while. Sasuke should have been right in front of him, but instead, the boy was all the way across the room, in a corner, bleeding heavily. Naruto gasped slightly when he identified the objects piercing into the Uchiha as kunai. _Did the boy stab himself on accident? _He thought, and then looked around the room. _Did someone come and help me? _His mind suggested, but all eyes were locked on him. He backed up, though he wasn't sure where he could go that their eyes wouldn't follow him.

"Naruto, you never told us that you had fighting skills." Kakashi said, and Naruto stared at him, bewildered.

"I don't." Naruto replied, taken aback. "I've never fought a day in my life….I usually run away in situations like that…and that's what I did, ne? I ran all the way into a corner where I couldn't run any more and then I cowered…" Naruto added in a disappointed tone, frowning. Kakashi cocked a brow.

"You don't remember what happened?" Kakashi asked, keeping an eye on Sasuke to make sure that the wounds were nothing serious. The boy was picking the kunai out of his arm, bandages at the ready. Naruto shook his head no.

"How did I end up in the middle of the room? I figured someone must have helped me out, right?" Naruto asked, though he was a little unsure of this.

"You…well, Naruto, you dodged. You dodged faster than I thought possible, and then you took the kunai from his hands and you stabbed him in the arm, and yelled 'back the fuck off, asshole!' at him." Naruto took a few steps back once more, and shook his head.

"No, no you have to be wrong. I don't know how to dodge; I've never seen a 'kunai' before in my life, and would never stab someone! The sight of blood makes me uncomfortable anyways…" Naruto argued, avoiding looking at Sasuke. Kakashi frowned slightly, approaching the blonde boy. Looking back, Naruto saw Gaara giving him a strange look. Granted, everyone was staring at him, but Gaara's eyes were different. _It's almost as if he knows something more than everyone else does, _Naruto thought, and contemplated going over to him and asking the redhead what it was he knew.

"Sometimes people black out in extremely stressful situations, and their instincts take over. Don't worry about it Naruto. Everyone, back to work!" Kakashi called out, breaking the tension. Slowly but surely, everyone began to ignore Naruto and return to what they were doing. The blond boy, now red with embarrassment, felt like it was the classroom teleportation incident all over again. _Damnit, I'm considered weird even among the weirdos! _Naruto complained mentally, looking around. As Naruto's eyes fell on an angry, black-haired boy, it dawned on him once more what he had done.

"Sasuke! Sasuke! Are you alright?" Naruto yelled, running over to him. Everyone stopped what they were doing in an attempt to watch the impending drama, but Kakashi forced them back to training. Sasuke didn't look at Naruto, he just kept his head down, and his spare hand holding his bandaged arm.

"I didn't dodge…I didn't block…" Sasuke was muttering away to himself.

"Sasuke?" Naruto repeated, taking a step closer.

"I wasn't prepared. I should have done something. I let my guard down…why did I let my guard down?"

"Sasuke?" This time Naruto's voice was a little unsure. _What is this kid's issue?_ He thought, contemplating merely turning around and leaving.

"…it's no good. I won't kill him this way. I have to be stronger…I need more hate…" This particular section of Sasuke's rant peaked the blonde boy's interest. _Kill who? _ He thought, and then frowned that the whole killing thing made him more curious than afraid.

"Kill who?" He blurted out, and then covered his mouth. _I didn't mean to say that! _He thought frantically. Sasuke didn't answer, and Naruto decided not to press the issue.

"Sorry I stabbed you." Naruto apologized, though it came out a little awkwardly. After all, he wasn't used to apologizing for that sort of thing.

"Hn." Sasuke replied, and Naruto guessed this was supposed to mean "don't worry about it"

"Are you ok?" Naruto asked, pointing to the boy's arm.

"Hn."

"Are you gunna keep training?"

"Hn."

"Are you going to actually talk to me ever again?" Narut asked. Sasuke remained silent. The blonde boy sighed, and walked away. _So much for being friends, _Naruto thought. Walking back over to Kakashi, Naruto's eyes widened when he saw Haruno Sakura next to the white-haired man. He had completely forgotten they had another teammate, and had been too focused on Sasuke to remember he was teamed with the girl he liked. Brushing himself off in an attempt to look more presentable, Naruto wondered what kind of training he would do with Sakura.

"Naruto! You've met Sakura, right?" Kakashi asked The two teenagers nodded. "Great! Well she's going to teach you how to mold chakra." Naruto had forgotten about the more mysterious side of his training.

"Cool!" Naruto exclaimed, unable to contain his enthusiasm. _Superpowers! _His mind suggested happily, _I'm going to have superpowers! _

"Alright, this sounds a little weird, but I'll do my best to explain." Sakura told him, and they began to practice. They covered gathering chakra much faster than either of them had thought possible, Naruto seemed to be a natural at it.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura called out, grabbing his attention. "What next?"

"It's been a half hour. It takes weeks to learn how to mold your chakra." Kakashi replied in a calm manner, picking his book back up and continuing to read. Naruto was puzzled, he didn't recognize the book Kakashi was reading. _I've read a lot, but I've never read a book that looks like that, _he thought. Seeing that his accomplishments were being ignored, Naruto spoke up.

"I'm done with this! I wanna learn something new!" He shouted, crossing his arms. Sakura marveled at the kid's openness. _I can't believe he spoke up like that, no one's ever done that…except for Sasuke when he's very upset, _Sakura thought, continuing to watch Naruto in awe.

"You can't be done learning that." Kakashi retorted, and continued to ignore them both. Naruto walked straight into the center of the room, and after taking a deep breath to quell the embarrassment, proceeded to gather unreasonably large amounts of chakra right in front of the white-haired man. Kakashi was taken aback. "How…?" Was all the man could manage to say.

"I'm done with this. I. Want. To. Learn. Something. New." Naruto repeated forcefully, glaring at the man. Kakashi nodded in defeat.

"Right, right. For the rest of the class you will work on martial arts basics with Neji and his team. They're the best we have at that sort of thing." Kakashi told him, and Temari made an offended noise. Naruto gave Temari a frown that said "I wish I could train with you" and she gave him a friendly smile.

"You'll do fine kid!" She shouted at him, but Naruto didn't feel so confident. Firstly, he had only ever met these people a few times during lunch, and secondly, as he had stated before, he had no training in martial arts whatsoever, and was therefore most likely to embarrass himself.

Naruto spent the rest of the day and somewhat later into the night than he had intended drilling basics with Neji, Rock Lee, and Tenten. They covered the basic weapons that were used for protection both ranged and close-combat, drilled basic strikes and dodges, and did some strength training and agility exercises. By the end of the practice Naruto was feeling tired and weak, but accomplished. He picked up his orange jacket off the floor, as he had taken it off during practice, and headed for the door. Neji and Tenten ignored this and opted to let him go, but Rock Lee, because he was overly friendly, decided to stop him.

"Wait a sec, you're going home this late at night? Why not just stay at the school? That's what we do when we've trained this much." Lee shouted, and Naruto considered it momentarily. Deciding that he preferred his own room for now, he turned around and shook his head a polite no.

"I have to take care of some things at my house anyways, but thanks for the offer." Naruto called out, before turning and running out the door. Lee took a few steps forward in concern, but the boy was already out of sight.

"I don't think it's really safe for you to travel alone!" The strange-haired boy called out, but he assumed Naruto was already out of ear-shot, as the blonde didn't say anything in return. Naruto was already running his way down the long-winding driveway out of their high school, enjoying the feeling of running at night. Running in the morning was fairly amazing, but in the nighttime there was always a nice cool draft to keep your system from overheating. About fifteen minutes from his home, Naruto paused to rest. He had been more tired than he counted on from training, and couldn't quite make it home in one burst. Finding a comfortable spot on the doorstep of a nearby apartment, the blonde boy looked around the alleyway he had stopped in. It was a fairly narrow pathway, but you could still get a decent view of the stars. Suddenly the boy heard a rustling noise coming from behind him. Jumping to his feet, he turned and identified the perpetrator. A small kitten was searching through the garbage in hopes of food. Feeling a connection with the orphaned animal, Naruto picked it up out of the trashcan and held it.

"Bad kitty, garbage is no good for you. I'll take you home and get you something good to eat." Naruto comforted the small animal, which struggled to free itself from his grasp. "What's got you so antsy?" Naruto asked, although he knew the cat had no way to tell him what it was thinking. Then Naruto heard a terrifying sound, a loud cackle from somewhere nearby. Snapping back to reality, Naruto held the small cat to his chest and started running in the direction of home. The cackling continued, and it seemed to be getting closer and closer. "Ten minutes to home, tops!" He told himself, picking up his pace. He had completely forgotten about the dangers of having the abilities he did. _Damnit, I should have stayed with Rock Lee when he asked…_Naruto thought, wanting to punch something out of frustration. _Well, at least I got a companion out of it! _He thought, smiling. It surprised him that something like that would come to mind in such a dire situation, but for some reason he felt the fear melting away. _I can outrun them, _he told himself, _and if I can't, _he continued, _I'll turn back and fight them! _ His mind finished, and Naruto gulped, unsure why he was thinking such things. Naruto fell to the ground, his legs giving in. He supposed he had trained too much to run as fast as he did. Putting the kitten down, Naruto rose slowly to his feet. His followers approached. From what he could tell in the darkness, they were two women.

"Hello little boy." The woman with long black hair taunted. Naruto took a few steps back, and watched as the kitten ran away. He frowned, wishing he had the same option.

"The hell do you want with me!?" Naruto yelled, visibly shaking.

"Come with us, or we'll kill you, un." The blonde 'woman' told him. Naruto noticed that the blonde's voice was a little bit deep to be a woman's. Shaking his head violent, Naruto shouted a brave "NO!" and did his best to assume one of the fighting stances he had learned a few hours before. The two shadowy figures chuckled.

"Aww, isn't that cute. He's trying to fight us." The black-haired girl replied sarcastically. She jumped over so that she was inches from Naruto's face. The boy cowered. "Pathetic." She spat, and punched him in the face. Naruto went flying into a nearby wall, and then crunched up into a ball, trying desperately not to cry. The two attackers merely chuckled some more.

"Just leave me alone…please…" Naruto whimpered, squeezing his eyes shut in reaction to their presence.

"This is going to be no fun at all." The woman called out to her companion with mock sadness. "He's not even going to try." She approached him once more, kicking him. "I'll just knock him unconscious, and we'll drag him back." With that, she picked Naruto up and smashed his head against the wall, knocking him out instantly.


End file.
